60% OF BUSINESS TRAVELLERS SUFFER FROM HOMESICKNESS

57% admit they actively do more and 10% try new experiences when working away

Over-55 year olds say that being away with work strengthens their personal relationships in contrast to half of 18 – 24 year olds who found travel put a strain on their relationship

SIX OUT OF 10 (59.95%) UK businessmen and women suffer from homesickness when working away from home, new national research has revealed.

Over 10% of those surveyed by hotel booking specialists LateRooms.com said they’d suffered such severe homesickness it had made them want to change jobs.

Whilst the majority of the 2,000 businessmen and women quizzed said they are able to cope with homesickness, almost half (47%) said they don’t work as effectively when away from home.

According to the LateRooms.com research, the drop in productivity is caused directly by homesickness for almost one in 10 (8%) business travellers, while a quarter said they found it harder to concentrate in unfamiliar surroundings.

However, it seems the upside of working away from home is a better social life and a greater likelihood to try out new experiences.A third of those surveyed said that they combat homesickness by keeping busy in the evenings, with 57% admitting that they actively make more of their free time when away with work compared to being at home.A quarter are more likely to dine out with friends and colleagues in the evenings than they would when at home, while 17% take in culture by visiting local galleries and exhibitions, the theatre or cinema.10% of business travellers use their work trips as an opportunity to try a new experience.

Whilst in the minority, 23% said that they prefer to stay in their hotel room alone during work trips.

LateRooms.com’s study also revealed that working away has a knock on effect on relationships.

Three quarters of the over-55s quizzed said working away from home actually benefitted their relationship by allowing them to spend some time apart from their partner.

But nearly one in 20 (4.63%) said business travelling had caused a relationship to end in the past, and 12% said their business travelling commitments meant they couldn’t sustain a full relationship.

Those aged between 18 and 24 felt the effects of working away on their relationships more than any other age bracket – nearly half (47%) said business travel had caused relationship troubles in one form or another.

It’s clear that having friends and family out of sight seldom means they’re out of mind for UK business travellers – 38% think about home at least once an hour.

Nearly 8 out of 10 of those working away from home maintain contact with loved ones daily to avoid feeling homesick. Some 78% make a point of getting in touch with their nearest and dearest at least once a day.

Only 9% said they never contact friends and family at home when working away.

But it’s not just the people that those travelling for work miss – a quarter (24.46%) of the over-55s surveyed said they missed their own bed.

It’s a different story for the younger work trippers; nearly a fifth (19.38%) missed home cooking.

LateRooms.com spokesperson, Andrea Tarpey, said: “A lot of our customers book with us for work trips of one sort or another, , so we wanted to scratch beneath the surface and look at how they actually felt about their business travels.

“We were surprised by the extent to which people feel their work trips affect their productivity and relationships, but it was quite refreshing to see the number of people that are making the most of their time away from home by doing something out of the ordinary – compared to 65% of people that spent a typical evening at home in front of the TV.”

“Luckily, modern technology means it’s much easier to keep in touch with our loved ones – six out of 10 people we surveyed said that contacting home improved both their mood and work performance!”